Third Traditions Foundation

True Public Safety Harms No One. Racial Profiling Harms Everyone.

A Better Path to Public Safety

The video above captures retired SFPD Officer Marion Jackson as he reaches out to community members with thoughtful words on True Public Safetyincluding dispelling “shoot to kill” myths. He insists police cannot define "community policing," the community must define and direct police, a truth not often stated by law enforcement. He assures the audience that "police work for you..." their salary "comes out of your pocket.” "True Public Safety Harms No One, Racial Profiling Harms Everyone" is part of a series of workshops presented by Third Traditions Foundation.

Seated in the audience on the far left is Mesha Izizarry, founder of the Idriss Stelley Foundation, a non-profit created to address police brutality. Panel discussion intrigued audience members and most found the conversations candidly refreshing therefore; we hope to repeat the experience in an upcoming event.

Selected segments of the hour workshop are available below and the entire presentation is available on video upon request. Please email info@thirdtraditionsfoundation.org for details.

How does one escape the recent headlines pointing to corruption among correctional control officers? Are the fatiguing aspects of this profession giving rise to inappropriate behavior by prison guards? Can those overseeing convicted felons be more in need of correction than those overseen by them?

In this media presentation, law enforcement representatives address this ethical question through a panel on Public Safety.

You will see in this section of TTF’s March 14, 2015 “True Public Safety Harms No One," San Francisco Police Sergeant Yulanda Williams and Ida Mc Cray of San Francisco Sheriff’s Office speak out against inappropriate behavior among correctional control officers.

Please check back for future Third Traditions Foundation Seminars. In the meantime, take advantage of the forums listed below.

The War on Drugs

"What is painfully obvious when one steps back from individual cases and specific policies is that the system of mass incarceration operates with stunning efficiency to sweep people of color off the streets, lock them in cages, and then releases them into an inferior second-class status. Nowhere is this more true than in the War on Drugs." - Michelle Alexander page 103, The New Jim Crow

One of the unique attributes of San Francisco city government is its transparency fueled by policy debates from grass roots contributors. The Human Rights Impact of the War on Drugs sponsored by the Human Rights Commission on Thursday, April 12, 2012 produced some of the most informative subject data from experts such as the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice. Their Drug Policy Report unveiled how San Francisco favors whites who fuel the illicit drug trade in the city yet non-whites are arrested most often.

In addition, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California exposed gross racial disparities in the city's "Buy-bust operations."

In what might be a historic turning point in his term, President Obama “came out” Black and recounted being the target of racial profiling. The President’s comments came in response to intense nationwide dialog happening in the wake of Florida’s acquittal of George Zimmerman, the white community member who shot and killed Tryavon Martin, an unarmed Black teenager. On July 19, 2013, Obama orchestrated a special press conference to address the country’s reaction.

"If I ignore them (biases) and believe that I’m acting without them, without looking at them andtesting that I’m not, then I could unconsciously or otherwise, be led to be doing the exact thing I don’t want to do…” Justice Soto Mayor